We know we live in a changing landscape. Yet, every year out of the fog like a lighthouse beam comes a moment of clarity. That moment is the Ofcom communications market report. Here are some stats to know by heart. It’s 400-pages. We read it so you don’t have to.

Research, said astronaut Neil Armstrong, is creating new knowledge so how often do we really do that?

Alone on a sea of change it is easy to feel as though you are bobbing around on the water uncertain and very often alone. Sure, there’s snippets of information out there. Often it can be confusing and only casts light on a small corner.

All this is why as a communications person you need to spend time a few hours with the Ofcom communications market report 2015. I mean it. You do. It tells you far better than anything else the direction of travel in the UK. Once more, it is free.

A week or two back I sat down and read through it all.

It is shaping what I’m doing. It doesn’t have all the answers but it has many and it’s the starting point of everything that you need to do.

Here’s some key stats from the 2015 report.

We live in a connected nation

83 per cent of buildings in the UK can receive superfast broadband.

89 per cent of buildings have coverage of 4G.

Internet use is 20 hours a week – doubled in 10 years.

We live in a smartphone nation

93 per cent of people have a mobile phone.

66 per cent of people have a smartphone.

65 per cent of homes have a laptop.

In 2014, 4G subscribers rose from 2.7 million to 23.6 million.

16 to 24-year-olds would miss their smartphone more than their TV.

50 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds check their phones within five minutes of waking up.

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